Springsteen's Nebraska: The Poll

tipsy mothra and balls have me wavering, b/c the version of reason to believe on the live set is devastating. johnny 99 on that one cuts pretty deep too.

but if it's strictly on the Nebraska tracks, I think atlantic city edges nebraska for me, just barely.

yeah this is Atlantic City vs Nebraska for me (as well) i like the MOOD on the rest of the albums, but in hypercritical mode, "songs" etc.

i think I'll go for Nebraska.

*album*

just noticed the ones I find most effective on the album are the jersey based ones (ac and state trooper), like his own sense of home carried the songs to some place his masks couldn't

my father's house hitting hard too, that last line is great

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Wonder if every song will get a vote

listened to ghost of tom joad recently and it seems pretty awesome now

"State Trooper," if only because a friend of mine accused me of driving him near the brink of madness for playing a mixtape (while driving across Michigan during the middle of the night) that went DJ Shadow's "What Does Your Soul Look Like, Pt. 2" -> the Jesus Lizard's "White Hole" -> This Heat's "Horizontal Hold" -> "State Trooper" -> Suicide's "Frankie Teardrop."

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

pretty sure I voted for "Highway Patrolman" but never wrote about cos I was on the road at the time; but that song's a killer, heartbreaking obv. but with a gorgeous melody, esp. esp. esp. on the chorus with the harmonica. Did Bruce cop this melody from some folk song à la Dylan? & on the verses Bruce's voice is a drone so that the rises near & then into the chorus hit twice as hard. I don't know how many times I've broken down listening to this song; I have a brother, I know what blood feels like; but the song manages to bring out the ambiguity of family bonds, how those ties bind while at the same time repulsing you because I didn't choose these people & I have to bleed for them? A man turns his back on his family, well, he just ain't no good.

first verse of reason to believe gets my vote as the single best thing bruce has ever written

Johnny 99 1

Huh.

I have a question about this record, and about BS more generally - I really like that it's put together in a straightforward way, and isn't a polished production (although, as far as I'm aware, it's some demos that were worked up a bit). As far as I'm aware, it's a bit anomalous in terms of his releases, but I really, really like it so I'm keen to figure out if there are other records of his that I might like too. Can you recommend any? If so, do please let me know.

Yeah it's pretty much an outlier but check out The Ghost of Tom Joad and then Devils & Dust.

Fantastic. Thank you!